Dear Parents of AP Biology students,

I am pleased to be teaching AP Biology again at Foard.  I would like to explain a bit about the course and what you might expect from it.

The Advanced Placement Program of the College Board is designed to let students in high school obtain college credit and/or advanced placement in college.  In order to obtain credit, students must pass an exam given in May by the Educational Testing Service.  Grades are assigned on the basis of 1-5 with 3 being a "passing" score at most colleges.  The exam consists of multiple choice and free-response (essay) questions.  Most of the exam is based on lecture material, with about 25% of the exam being laboratory-based.

AP Biology is a college course taught in high school.  Most college introductory courses consist of 3 hours of lecture and 3 hours of lab per week.  To attempt to duplicate this time requirement, we meet each day for 90 minutes.  Students willl be assigned many pages of reading in a college textbook each week and a weekly written lab report.  There will be a few long-range assignments as well.  I hope many students will be taking the AP Biology exam on May 16, 2001!

With all this in mind, it is important for parents and students to consider why the student is taking the course.  If the student wishes to be challenged by a rigorous science course, have the course on his high school transcript, and/or take and "pass" the AP exam, then this course can meet his needs.  If, however, the student wishes to receive credit for an introductory biology course, especially one for science majors, he may need to do more than get a 3 on the exam.  Many schools require a 4 or 5 in order to give credit for science-major courses or want a copy of the course syllabus.  To avoid being disappointed, the student should contact the colleges he is considering attending and find out the policy regarding AP Biology.

Parents and students should not be surprised that more is required in this class since it is not a high school course.  That is one reason all AP courses have a weight of 2 points.  Students can be involved in athletics and extracurricular activities and do well.  However, they must learn to budget their time and keep up with assignments, particularly if they are taking more than one AP or Honors class.  It is very difficult to miss class or let assignments accumulate and still do well in the course and on the AP Biology exam.

I look forward to teaching the students this year.  If I can answer any questions for the parents, please call me at school between 8-9:30 or after 3:00.

Sincerely,

Thea Sinclair